Oct. 6, 2005
Los Angeles, Calif. - With the start of the fall season this weekend, Loyola Marymount begins its 30th season of women's tennis. The Lions return five of nine players from the 2004 squad that finished third at the West Coast Conference Championship.
This year's team boasts experience, as is primarily made of juniors, with one senior in Patrycia Hubl. Other returners include Serena Fermin, who played at the No. 2 spot for the Lions in 2004 and received honorable mention All-WCC recognition for her singles play. Tamara Tanner played at the No. 4 spot in singles and was named honorable mention all WCC in doubles play. Erin Ivey played for the Lions at No. 5 and racked up seven straight singles wins to finish the spring season with a singles record of 17-9. Ivey also teamed with Fermin on the doubles side to go 9-4 in dual competition. Also returning for the Lions is a healthy Robyn Baker, who saw limited action in 2005 due to injury. Baker played at the No. 6 spot and finished the spring with a singles record of 9-6.
"I expect a lot this season from our nucleus of returners: Serena Fermin, Tamara Tanner, Erin Ivey, and Robyn Baker," Head Coach Jamie Sanchez said, as he begins his 32nd season with LMU tennis. "And I believe our senior, Patrycia Hubl, will end her career with her best season."
Despite the five strong returners, the Lions will notice the key loss of co-captains Erin Sanchez and Cara Arguelles, both graduates with the LMU Class of 2005. Arguelles was a two-time WCC first-team selection.
Looking to fill the shoes of Arguelles and Sanchez will be new additions, Pavla Mesterova and Shawnell Russell. Mesterova played at the top singles spot for the University of Texas at Arlington last season and finished ranked 109th in singles play. She held her singles ranking all season, while going undefeated in dual singles competition. Russel was added to the Lions' roster after walking-on to the team this fall. She hails from San Pedro, Calif.
The 30th season of LMU women's tennis will also bring the blessing of having an assistant coach with the program for the entire year. This will be the first full season with Assistant Coach Sergiu Boerica on staff, as he was hired late last season. "Having Coach Boerica with us for a complete season will be a big plus," Sanchez said.
The Lions begin the fall season this weekend at the Cal State Fullerton Fall Intercolleigates. The tournament seeded eight players, and two of those are Lions in the fourth-seeded Mesterova and seventh-seeded Fermin. Only one other school placed two players in the seeded eight, as UC Santa Barbara claimed the top two seeds. In the tournament, which begins Friday in Fullerton, the Lions will face competition from USC, Pepperdine, Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and host Cal State Fullerton.
Fourth-seeded Mesterova received a bye in the first round and will play the winner of Juliette Mutzke (UCSB) and Gine Le (CSF) in the round of 32 Friday at 12:30 p.m. Seventh-seeded Fermin faces Kristen Wilson of UC Santa Barbara Friday at 8:00 a.m.
Other LMU singles match-ups for Friday include Russell against Cal State Northridge's Sonya Kumar, and Tamara Tanner against Cal State Fullerton's Chip Dunbar, both at 9:30 a.m.
"We are using this fall season to prepare us for a competitive spring," Sanchez said. " It helps us see where we stand among the competition in our region. So our benchmark this fall will be the ITA Regionals, where we will directly face that competition."
-GO LIONS-
